Method, system and device for realizing user identity association

ABSTRACT

The present invention discloses a method for realizing user identity association, the method comprising: setting an equivalent behavior user identifier in a Home Subscription Server (HSS); associating IMS Public User Identities (IMPUs) with the equivalent behavior through the set equivalent behavior user identifier. The present invention also discloses a system and a device realizing user identity association. According to the embodiments of the present invention, the association of the IMPUs with the set equivalent behavior is realized, which improves the user experiences.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of International Application No.PCT/CN2008/070036, filed on Jan. 7, 2008, which claims the benefits ofChinese Patent Applications No. 200710000388.5, filed on Jan. 22, 2007,and No. 200710108603.3, filed on May 31, 2007. The contents of the aboveidentified applications are incorporated by reference in theirentireties.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS), and moreparticularly, to a method, system and device for realizing user identityassociation.

BACKGROUND

IMS is a subsystem proposed by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project(3GPP) which supports IP multimedia services. The essential feature ofthe IMS is the realization of the separation between service management,session control and bearer access with the deployment of the SessionInitiation Protocol (SIP) as the call control protocol. The IMS is amultimedia control/call control platform over a packet domain andsupports both session and non-session multimedia services. The IMSprovides a general service platform for multimedia applications.

FIG. 1 illustrates a partial architecture diagram of the IMS, in which aCall Session Control Function (CSCF) is a central control part in theIMS core network and is responsible for subscription authentication of aUser Equipment (UE) and session control. The CSCF performs basic sessionroute function with respect to the calling and called users and conductsroute trigger for valued added services to an Application Server (AS)and service control interaction when a condition is met, according toIMS Initial Filter Criteria (iFC) subscribed by the user. A HomeSubscriber Server is a user database server which saves IMS subscriptioninformation of the user, i.e., association information between the useridentity and user subscription data. When the user conducts a serviceoperation, related entities in the IMS, such as an Interrogating CSCF(I-CSCF), a Serving CSCF (S-CSCF) and the AS, obtain the subscriptiondata of the related user from the HSS, through the user identity. In theIMS subscription information, a set of user subscription data related tothe service is referred to as a Service Profile (SP).

Please refer to FIG. 2, which is a diagram illustrating the relationshipbetween the user identity and the SP. As shown in FIG. 2, the useridentity includes an IMS Private User Identity (IMPI) and an IMS PublicUser Identity (IMPU). An IMPI belongs to only one IMS subscription andone IMS subscription may include a plurality of IMPIs. An IMPI mayinclude a plurality of IMPUs and an IMPU may be shared by a plurality ofIMPIs. An IMPU has only one SP and one SP may be shared by a pluralityof IMPUs.

It can be seen that, the HSS associates the IMPUs that share the sameSP. In practical applications, sometimes the user hopes that two or moresubscribed IMPUs not only share the same SP but also have the sameservice data, such as forwarded to address information, exactly the samerepresentation information, which means the two or more IMPUs have anequivalent behavior. However, the HSS cannot associate this kind ofIMPUs with the prior art.

SUMMARY

Accordingly, on one hand, embodiments of the invention provide twomethods for realizing user identity association; on the other hand,embodiments of the invention provide a system and device for realizinguser identity association, so that IMPUs with the equivalent behaviorcan be associated.

The first method for realizing user identity association provided by anembodiment of the invention includes:

setting an equivalent behavior user identifier in an HSS; and

associating IMS Public User Identities (IMPUs) with the equivalentbehavior through the set equivalent behavior user identifier.

The system for realizing user identity association provided by anembodiment of the invention includes an HSS and a first requestingentity, where:

the HSS is adapted to associate IMPUs with equivalent behavior and totransmit association information of the IMPUs with the equivalentbehavior to the first requesting entity by carrying the information in amessage; and

the first requesting entity is adapted to parse the message from the HSSand to obtain the association information of the IMPUs with theequivalent behavior from the message.

The device for realizing user identity association provided by anembodiment of the invention includes an indication setting module and anindication presenting module, where:

the indication setting module is adapted to set an equivalent behavioruser identifier in an HSS;

the indication presenting module is adapted to associate IMPUs with theequivalent behavior using the equivalent behavior user identifier set bythe indication setting module.

The second method for realizing user identity association provided by anembodiment of the invention includes:

associating IMPUs with equivalent behavior in an HSS, where the IMPUswith the equivalent behavior are IMPUs with the same SP, and the sameservice data and belong to the same IRPUIS; and

saving, by the HSS, association information of the IMPUs with theequivalent behavior.

It can be seen from the above solutions that, the embodiments of theinvention set the equivalent behavior user identifier in the HSS andassociate the IMPUs with the set equivalent behavior user identifier. Asa result, the association of the IMPUs with the set equivalent behavioris realized in the HSS, which improves the user experiences.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a partial architecture diagram of IMS;

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating the relationship between a useridentity and an SP;

FIG. 3 is an exemplary flow chart of a method for realizing useridentity association according to an embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 4 is an exemplary flow chart of a device for realizing useridentity association according to an embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 5 is a flow chart of a method for realizing user identityassociation according to a first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a flow chart of a method for realizing user identityassociation according to a second embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating the structure of Public Identity classin the prior art.

FIG. 8 is a flow chart of a method for realizing user identityassociation according to a third embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating the structure of an added class thatindicates an alias identity according to the third embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 10 is a block diagram of a device for realizing user identityassociation according to the third embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 11 is a block diagram of a system for realizing user identityassociation according to the third embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 12 is a flow chart of a method for realizing user identityassociation according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating the structure of Public Identity classaccording to the fourth embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 14 is a flow chart of a method for realizing user identityassociation according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating the structure of Public Identity classaccording to the fifth embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 16 is a flow chart of a method for realizing user identityassociation according to a sixth embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 17 is a flow chart of a method for realizing user identityassociation according to a seventh embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 18 is a diagram illustrating the structure of Public Identity classaccording to the seventh embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 19 is a flow chart of a method for realizing user identityassociation according to an eighth embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 20 is a block diagram of a system for realizing user identityassociation according to the eighth embodiment of the present invention;and

FIG. 21 is a flow chart of a method for realizing user identityassociation according to a ninth embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

According to an embodiment of the invention, an equivalent behavior useridentifier is set in the HSS, and IMPUs with equivalent behavior areassociated using the equivalent behavior user identifier.

Please refer to FIG. 3, which is an exemplary flow chart of a method forassociating user identities according to an embodiment of the presentinvention. As shown in FIG. 3, the flow includes the following steps:

Step 301: Setting the equivalent behavior user identifier in the HSS.

In this step, there are at least the following two method for settingthe equivalent behavior user identifier in the HSS:

With the first method, an indication is set for indicating a set ofIMPUs with the equivalent behavior in the HSS.

With the second method, an indication is set for indicating a set ofIMPUs with the equivalent behavior to which the IMPU belongs with theIMPU of the HSS.

Step 302: Associating the IMPUs with the equivalent behavior using theequivalent behavior user identifier that is set.

For the first method of step 301, the set indication is used to arrangethe IMPUs with the equivalent behavior in a set in this step. Thus, theindication includes one or more sets of IMPUs with the equivalentbehavior, and each set of IMPUs with the equivalent behavior includesone or more IMPUs.

For the second method of step 301, the set indication is used toindicate the set of IMPUs with the equivalent behavior to which the IMPUbelongs. Thus, the value of the indication is used to determine whichset of IMPUs with the equivalent behavior the IMPU belongs to.

Furthermore, the HSS may present association information of the IMPUswith the equivalent behavior to an S-CSCF, and/or, the HSS may presentthe association information of the IMPUs with the equivalent behavior toan AS.

Furthermore, the S-CSCF may present the association information of theIMPUs with the equivalent behavior to the AS, and/or, the S-CSCF maypresent the association information of the IMPUs with the equivalentbehavior to a P-CSCF, and/or, the S-CSCF presents the associationinformation of the IMPUs with the equivalent behavior to an UE.

Furthermore, the association information of the IMPUs with theequivalent behavior may be included in service information of the iFCrelated to the IMPU in the HSS. When the S-CSCF requests the user datafrom the HSS, the S-CSCF downloads the iFC with the service informationincluding the association information of the IMPUs with the equivalentbehavior from the HSS, and the S-CSCF presents the service informationincluding the association information of the IMPUs with the equivalentbehavior to the AS by carrying it in a message, when the iFC is met. TheAS may obtain the association information of the IMPUs with theequivalent behavior from the message.

Please refer to FIG. 4, which is an exemplary block diagram of a devicefor realizing user identity association according to an embodiment ofthe invention. As shown in FIG. 4, the device includes an indicationsetting module and an indication presenting module.

Wherein, the indication setting module is adapted to set the equivalentbehavior user identifier in the HSS.

The indication presenting module is adapted to associate the IMPUs withthe equivalent behavior using the equivalent behavior user identifierset by the indication setting module.

Furthermore, in order to make it possible for the user to register aplurality of IMPUs in the IMS network, an implicit registering mechanismis provided. That is, when any of the IMPUs belonging to an ImplicitlyRegistered Public User Identity Set (IRPUIS) is registered, the otherIMPUs in the IRPUIS are registered at the same time. Furthermore, theIMPUs in the same IRPUIS must belong to the same IMPI, and the IMPUs mayhave the same or different SPs, however, the same IMPU belongs to onlyone IRPUIS.

As shown in FIG. 2, IMPU1 and IMPU2 belong to the same IRPUIS. WhenIMPU1 is registered in the network, IMPU2 will get registered too.Similarly, when IMPU2 is registered in the network, IMPU1 will getregistered too. Here, IMPU1 and IMPU2 have different SPs. Each of theIMPU3 and IMPU4 of FIG. 2 is an IRPUIS shared by IMPI1 and IMPI2 and hasthe same SP. Each of the IMPU5 and IMPU6 of FIG. 2 is an IRPUISbelonging to IMPI2 and has different SPs. Where, IMPU5 has an SP whichis the same as that IMPU3 and IMPU4 have.

The set of IMPUs with the equivalent behavior according to theembodiments of the invention may be a subset of the IRPUIS or a set ofIMPUs with the equivalent behavior independent of the IRPUIS. For theconvenience of description, the IMPUs with the equivalent behavior arereferred to as Alias Public User Identity (APUI) and the set of IMPUswith the equivalent behavior is referred to as Alias Public UserIdentity Set (APUIS) in this description.

In the following, the method, system and device for realizing useridentity association will be described in detail with reference to someembodiments.

Embodiment One

the first method is used, that is, an indication used for indicating theIMPUs with the equivalent behavior is set in the HSS.

Please refer to FIG. 5, which is a flow chart of a method for realizinguser identity association according to the first embodiment of theinvention. As shown in FIG. 5, the flow includes the following steps:

Step 501: Setting an indication for indicating an APUIS in the HSS.

In this step, a type of data is added to the HSS. This type of data isconfigured to indicate the APUIS and works as the indication of theAPUIS. It may be a subset of an IRPUIS of a corresponding user or a setindependent of the IRPUIS. Please refer to Table 1, which is a detailedimplementation of the embodiment. The indication used for indicating theAPUIS added to Table 1 is named as Alias Public User Identity Set andmay be added to a corresponding sub-clause as required, which isrepresented with 3.X.X in Table 1.

TABLE 1 PARAMETER Sub-clause HSS S-CSCF AS TYPE Private User Identity3.1.1 M M — P Public User Identity 3.1.2 M M — P Barring Indication3.1.3 M M — P List of authorized visited network identifiers 3.1.4 M — —P Services related to Unregistered State 3.1.5 M — — P Implicitlyregistered Public User Identity sets 3.1.6 C C — P Alias Public UserIdentity Sets 3.X.X C C — P Default Public User Identity indicator 3.1.7C — — P Display Name 3.1.9 C C — P Registration Status 3.2.1 M — — TS-CSCF Name 3.2.2 M — — T Diameter Client Address of S-CSCF 3.2.3 M — —T Diameter Server Address of HSS 3.2.4 — M C T RAND, XRES, CK, IK andAUTN 3.3.1 M C — T Server Capabilities 3.4.1 C C — P Initial FilterCriteria 3.5.2 C C — P Application Server Information 3.5.3 C C — PService Indication 3.5.4 M — M P Shared iFC Set Identifier 3.5.5 C C P .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . In Table 1, “M” represents mandatory,“C” represents conditional and “—” represents not available. Type “P”represents a static permanent type, and “T” represents a dynamictemporary type.

Step 502: Associating the IMPUs with the equivalent behavior using theindication set above.

In this step, the set indication is used to indicate the IMPUs with theequivalent behavior, that is, one or more APUISs. Each APUIS includesone or more IMPUs and the IMPUs have exactly the same SP and exactly thesame service data, that is, they have the equivalent behavior. There maybe a plurality of APUISs under an IMS subscription, and there may evenbe a plurality of APUISs under each IRPUIS, though each IMPU may belongto only one APUIS.

The method for realizing identity association is described in detail inthe above. In the following, the device for realizing identityassociation will be described in detail.

The structure, connection relationship and function of the deviceaccording to this embodiment of the invention are the same as the deviceshown in FIG. 4 except that the device of this embodiment is aninstantiation of the device shown in FIG. 4. That is to say, theindication setting module in the device is adapted to set the indicationused for indicating the APUIS in the HSS.

Embodiment Two

the second method is used, that is, an indication used for indicating aset of IMPUs with the equivalent behavior to which an IMPU belongs isset with the IMPU in the HSS.

Please refer to FIG. 6, which is a flow chart of a method for realizinguser identity association according to the second embodiment of theinvention. As shown in FIG. 6, the flow includes the following steps:

Step 601: Setting an indication used for indicating a set of IMPUs withthe equivalent behavior to which an IMPU belongs with the IMPU in theHSS.

In this step, a number can be added for each IMPU belonging to an APUISin the IRPUIS corresponding to an IMPU in the HSS. The number isconfigured to indicate the APUIS to which the IMPU belongs and works asthe indication of the APUIS to which the IMPU belongs.

Alternatively, a number can be added for each IMPU belonging to an APUISindependent of the IRPUIS. The number is configured for indicating theAPUIS to which the IMPU belongs and works as the indication of the APUISto which the IMPU belongs.

Step 602: Associating the IMPUs with the equivalent behavior using theindication set above.

In this step, the set indication is used to indicate those IMPUs in theIRPUIS that have exactly the same SP and service data to the IMPU, thatis to say, they have they equivalent behavior.

Alternatively, the set indication is used to indicate the IMPUs thathave exactly the same SP and service data to the IMPU, that is to say,they have equivalent behavior.

When there is a plurality of APUISs, the indication is used to indicatethe APUIS to which the IMPU belongs. The IMPUs with the same numberbelong to the same APUIS.

The method for realizing identity association is described in detail inthe above. In the following, the device for realizing identityassociation will be described in detail.

The structure, connection relationship and function of the deviceaccording to the embodiment of the invention are the same as the deviceshown in FIG. 4 except that the device of the embodiment is aninstantiation of the device shown in FIG. 4. That is to say, theindication setting module in the device is adapted to set the indicationused for indicating the APUIS to which an IMPU belongs with the IMPU inthe HSS.

The method and device for realizing user identity association in the HSSare described in detail in the above two embodiments. In practicalapplications, the AS, UE, P-CSCF, S-CSCF may also need to know theinformation of the associated IMPUs. For example, the S-CSCF needs toknow which IMPUs have the equivalent behavior so that the informationmay be provided to the AS, P-CSCF. When the user modifies the servicedata of IMPU1 through the UE, the user may need to know whether themodification is applicable to IMPU2 too. When the AS transmits a messageto the IMPU1, the AS may need to know whether the same message should betransmitted to IMPU2 too. The P-CSCF may need to provide the IMPUs withthe equivalent behavior to a policy-decision-point in an access networkso that the same policy is selected for the IMPUs with the equivalentbehavior. Thus, the HSS may further include presenting the associationinformation of the IMPUs with the equivalent behavior to the networkentity, such as the S-CSCF or AS.

In the prior art, the S-CSCF assigned to the user may obtain the servicesubscription information of the user from the HSS using aServer-Assignnent-Request (SAR)/Server-Assignment-Answer (SAA) commandspair, and the HSS may update the service subscription information to bemodified to the S-CSCF using a Profile-Push-Request(PPR)/Profile-Push-Answer (PPA) command. In the message, the servicesubscription information is included in a Diameter Attribute Value Pair(AVP) as an eXtensible Markup Language (XML) file. Here, the messageinteraction between the HSS and S-CSCF may be done through the interfaceCx.

In the prior art, if there is an IRPUIS, when the S-CSCF assigned forthe user requests to download the user subscription data of a certainIMPU from the HSS, the HSS will return the SP information of all theIMPUs in the IRPUIS to which the IMPU belongs to the S-CSCF.

For example, if IMPU1, IMPU2 and IMPU3 belong to the same IRPUIS andIMPU1 and IMPU2 have the same SP1 while IMPU3 has another SP2, when theS-CSCF requests the data of any of the IMPUs in the IRPUIS, the contentof the XML file included in the SAA may be as follows:

<?xml version=“1.0” encoding=“UTF-8”?> <IMSSubscriptionxmlns:xsi=“http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance”; IMS subscriptionbegins xsi:noNamespaceSchemaLocation=“D:\\CxDataType.xsd”><PrivateID>IMPI1@homedomain.com</PrivateID> ; IMPI1 <ServiceProfile> ;SP begins <PublicIdentity> ; Public identity begins<BarringIndication>1</BarringIndication> ; barring indication <Identity>sip:IMPU1@homedomain.com </Identity>; identity of IMPU1</PublicIdentity>  ; Public identity ends <PublicIdentity>  ; Publicidentity begins <Identity> sip:IMPU2@homedomain.com </Identity>;identity of IMPU2 </PublicIdentity> ; Public identity ends<InitialFilterCriteria>  ; iFC begins <Priority>0</Priority><TriggerPoint> <ConditionTypeCNF>1</ConditionTypeCNF> <SPT><ConditionNegated>0</ConditionNegated> <Group>0</Group><Method>INVITE</Method> </SPT> <SPT><ConditionNegated>0</ConditionNegated> <Group>0</Group><Method>MESSAGE</Method> </SPT> <SPT><ConditionNegated>0</ConditionNegated> <Group>0</Group><Method>SUBSCRIBE</Method> </SPT> <SPT><ConditionNegated>0</ConditionNegated> <Group>1</Group><Method>INVITE</Method> </SPT> <SPT><ConditionNegated>0</ConditionNegated> <Group>1</Group><Method>MESSAGE</Method> </SPT> <SPT><ConditionNegated>1</ConditionNegated> <Group>1</Group> <SIPHeader><Header>From</Header> <Content>“joe”</Content> </SIPHeader> </SPT></TriggerPoint> <ApplicationServer> ; AS begins<ServerName>sip:AS1@homedomain.com</ServerName> ; name of AS<DefaultHandling>0</DefaultHandling> ; default handling</ApplicationServer> ; AS ends </InitialFilterCriteria> ; iFC ends</ServiceProfile> ; SP ends <ServiceProfile> ; SP begins<PublicIdentity> ; Public identity begins <Identity>sip:IMPU3@homedomain.com </Identity>; identity of IMPU3</PublicIdentity> ; Public identity ends <InitialFilterCriteria>  ; iFCbedins  .  .  .  <InitialFilterCriteria>  ; iFC ends </ServiceProfile> ;SP ends </IMSSubscription>  ; IMS ends

In the above XML file, it is an IMS subscription from ‘IMS subscriptionbegins’ to ‘IMS subscription ends’. There are two SPs in the above IMSsubscription and it is an SP from ‘SP begins’ to ‘SP ends’. One SPincludes IMPU and iFC, etc.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating the structure of Public Identity classin the prior art. As shown in FIG. 7, the Public Identity includespublic identities related to the SP and the public identities may be inthe form of SIP Universal Resource Identifier (URI) or Tel URI. EachPublic Identity includes a related BarringIndication. If theBarringIndication is set, the S-CSCF will prevent the IMPU from beingused in any other IMS communication except for Registration andDe-registration. The Public Identity also includes an IdentityType,which is used for indicating the type of the public identity, such as anIMPU or an independent Public Service Identity or a PSI matched with aWildcarded PSI. Here, IdentityType is an enumerated type and has 3values: 0 indicates that the Public Identifier is an IMPU; 1 indicatesthat the Public Identifier is an independent PSI; and 2 indicates thatthe Public Identifier is a PSI that may be matched with the WildcardedPSI. Furthermore, the public identity may also include DisplayName, etc.

In the above XML file, there are two Public Identities, which includesIMPU1 and IMPU2 respectively, which shows that the two IMPUs have thesame SP. There is only one Public Identity IMPU3 in the second SP.

iFC is used for service trigger and describes when the received SIPmessage will be triggered to a specific application server or AS.

Furthermore, the SP may also include core network service authorizationand shared iFC, etc.

In the embodiment of the invention, in order to make it possible topresent the association information of the IMPUs with the equivalentbehavior to the S-CSCF by the HSS, the HSS may extend the XML filesrelated to the SP that are transmitted to the S-CSCF. The extension maybe done with at least the following five methods.

Method one: The HSS adds a new class indicating the alias identity inthe SP transmitted to the S-CSCF. The IMPUs with the equivalent behaviorare indicated in the added new class indicating the alias identity, andthe HSS presents the association information to the S-CSCF by the SPcarrying the indication.

Method two: The HSS adds an attribute indicating the set to which theIMPU belongs in the Public Identity class in the SP transmitted to theS-CSCF. The sets of IMPUs with the equivalent behavior to which eachIMPU belongs are indicated by assigning a value to the attribute. TheHSS presents the association information to the S-CSCF by the SPcarrying the indication.

Method three: The HSS adds a new class indicating members of the set towhich the IMPU belongs in the Public Identity class in the SPtransmitted to the S-CSCF. The IMPUs with the equivalent behavior toeach IMPU are indicated in the added class. The HSS presents theassociation information to the S-CSCF by the SP carrying the indication.

Method four: If there is one set of IMPUs with equivalent behavior amongthe IMPUs with the same SP, the HSS may extend the value field of theattribute IdentityType in the Public Identity class in the SPtransmitted to the S-CSCF and indicate the IdentityType of the IMPUswith the equivalent behavior using the extended IdentityType value. TheHSS presents the association information to the S-CSCF by the SPcarrying the IdentityType indication.

Method five: If there is one set of IMPUs with equivalent behavior amongthe IMPUs with the same SP, the HSS adds an attribute indicating whetherthe IMPU has the equivalent behavior to the Public Identity class in theSP transmitted to the S-CSCF. Whether the IMPU belongs to the set ofIMPUs with the equivalent behavior is indicated by assigning values tothe attribute. The HSS presents the association information to theS-CSCF by the SP carrying the indication.

In the following, the method, device and system for realizing useridentity association employing the above five implementation methodswill be described in detail with reference to the embodiments.

Embodiment Three

Method one is used.

Please refer to FIG. 8, which is a flow chart of the method forrealizing user identity association according to the third embodiment ofthe invention. As shown in FIG. 8, the flow includes the followingsteps:

Step 801: Associating the user identities in the HSS.

The detailed implementation of the step may be the same as thedescription of embodiment one or two. It may also take otherimplementation method as actually required.

Step 802: The HSS adds a class indicating the alias identity in the SPtransmitted to the S-CSCF.

In the embodiment, when the HSS extends the XML file related to the SPthat is transmitted to the S-CSCF, the class used for indicating thealias identity similar to the Public Identity class may be added to theSP, as shown in FIG. 9, which is a diagram illustrating the structure ofthe added class that indicates the alias identity according to theembodiment. The added class that indicates the alias identity mayinclude one or more IMPUs having the equivalent behavior, and the IMPUsmay be in the form of SIP URI or TEL URI. Here, the instance of theadded class that indicates the alias identity is 0 or more than 0.

In a detailed implementation, if the added class that indicates thealias identity is named Alias Identity List, then a description relationmapping of the XML file with the class that indicates the alias identityadded is as shown in Table 2:

TABLE 2 Compound of Data type Tag Tag Type Cardinality tIMS SubscriptionIMSSubscription PrivateID tPrivateID 1 ServiceProfile tServiceProfile (1to n) tServiceProfile ServiceProfile PublicIdentity tPublicIdentity (1to n) InitialFilterCriteria tInitialFilterCriteria (0 to n)CoreNetworkServicesAuthorization CoreNetworkServicesAuthorization (0to 1) Extension tServiceProfileExtension (0 to 1)tServiceProfileExtension Extension SharedIFCSetID tSharedIFCSetID (0 ton) Extension tServiceProfileExtension2 (0 to 1)tServiceProfileExtension2 Extension AliasIdentityList tAliasIdentityList(0 to 1) tAliasIdentityList AliasIdentityList AliasIdentitytAliasIdentity (1 to n) tAliasIdentity AliasIdentity Identity tIdentity(1) tPublicIdentityExtension2 Extension DisplayName tDisplayName (0 to1)

In Table 2, the newly added class indicating the alias identity is namedAlias Identity List, which is obtained in an extension field oftServiceProfileExtension. When there is no IMPU with the equivalentbehavior, the number of instance of Alias Identity List is 0. When thereare more than one set of IMPUs with the equivalent behavior, the numberof instance of Alias Identity List is more than one. One Alias IdentityList may include one or more Alias Identity classes. One Alias Identityclass includes an Identity, which is similar to the Identity in thePublic Identity class shown in FIG. 7. Also the identity in the AliasIdentity class may be in the form of SIP URI or TEL URI; where, anidentity corresponds to an IMPU with the equivalent behavior and oneAlias Identity List may include a plurality of IMPUs.

Step 803: The added class for indicating the alias identity is used toindicate the IMPUs with the equivalent behavior.

In this step, the instance of each newly added class indicating thealias identity, i.e., the instance of the Alias Identity List class instep 802, includes the set of IMPUs with the equivalent behavior.Different sets of IMPUs with the equivalent behavior may be indicatedusing the instance of the different Alias Identity Lists class.

Step 804: HSS presents the association information of the IMPUs with theequivalent behavior to the S-CSCF by the SP carrying the aboveindication.

In this step, the HSS transmits the XML file carrying the SP indicatingthe IMPUs with the equivalent behavior to the S-CSCF, which parses theassociation information of the IMPUs with the equivalent behavior,according to the received XML file.

An example is that IMPU1 and IMPU2 have the equivalent behavior andIMPU3 and IMPU4 have the equivalent behavior. The case of there is anIRPUIS and the set of IMPUs with the equivalent behavior is the subsetof the IRPUIS is taken as the example. If IMPU1, IMPU2, IMPU3 and IMPU4are in the same IRPUIS, when the S-CSCF requests the user data of IMPU1from the HSS through the SAR, the content of the XML file carried in theSAA is as follows:

<?xml version=“1.0” encoding=“UTF-8”?> <IMSSubscriptionxmlns:xsi=“http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance”xsi:noNamespaceSchemaLocation=“D:\\CxDataType.xsd”><PrivateID>IMPI1@homedomain.com</PrivateID> <ServiceProfile><PublicIdentity>  ; public identity begins  <Identity>sip:IMPU1@homedomain.com </Identity> </PublicIdentity>  ; publicidentity ends <PublicIdentity>  ; public identity begins  <Identity>sip:IMPU2@homedomain.com </Identity> </PublicIdentity>  ; publicidentity ends <PublicIdentity>  ; public identity begins <Identity>sip:IMPU3@homedomain.com </Identity> </PublicIdentity>   ; publicidentity ends <PublicIdentity> ; public identity begins  <Identity>sip:IMPU4@homedomain.com </Identity> </PublicIdentity>  ; publicidentity ends <AliasIdentityList> ; Alias Identity List begins <AliasIdentity >  ; Alias Identity begins   <Identity>sip:IMPU1@homedomain.com </Identity> ; identity of IMPU1 </AliasIdentity >  ; Alias Identity ends <AliasIdentity > ; AliasIdentity begins   <Identity> sip:IMPU2@homedomain.com </Identity> ;identity of IMPU2 </AliasIdentity >  ; Alias Identity ends</AliasIdentityList>  ; Alias Identity List ends <AliasIdentityList> ;Alias Identity List begins <AliasIdentity >  ; Alias Identity begins  <Identity> sip:IMPU3@homedomain.com </Identity> ; identity of IMPU3</AliasIdentity >  ; Alias Identity ends <AliasIdentity >  ; AliasIdentity begins   <Identity> sip:IMPU4@homedomain.com </Identity> ;identity of IMPU4 </AliasIdentity > ; Alias Identity ends<AliasIdentityList> ; Alias Identity List ends  <InitialFilterCriteria><Priority>0</Priority> <TriggerPoint><ConditionTypeCNF>1</ConditionTypeCNF> <SPT> <ConditionNegated>0</ConditionNegated>  <Group>0</Group> <Method>INVITE</Method> </SPT> <SPT>  .  .  . </SPT> </TriggerPoint><ApplicationServer> <ServerName>sip:AS1@homedomain.com</ServerName><DefaultHandling>0</DefaultHandling> </ApplicationServer> </InitialFilterCriteria> </ServiceProfile> </IMSSubscription>

Where, it is an instance of the Alias Identity List from “Alias IdentityList begins” to “Alias Identity List ends”. In the above XML file, itcan be seen that the SP includes two instances of the Alias IdentityList. The first instance of the Alias Identity List indicates two aliasIMPUs, that is, IMPU1 and IMPU2, have the equivalent behavior. Thesecond instance of the Alias Identity List indicates two alias IMPUs,that is, IMPU3 and IMPU4, have the equivalent behavior.

When the S-CSCF receives the above XML file, it parses the associationinformation of the IMPUs with the equivalent behavior, that is, IMPU1and IMPU2 have the equivalent behavior and IMPU3 and IMPU4 have theequivalent behavior, according to the indication of the instance of theAlias Identity List.

The method for realizing identity association according to theembodiments of the present invention is described in detail above. Inthe following, the device for realizing identity association will bedescribed in detail.

Based on the device shown in FIG. 4, the device according to anembodiment of the present invention further includes an informationpresenting module. Please refer to FIG. 10, which is a block diagram ofthe device for realizing identity association according to the thirdembodiment of the invention.

Where, on the basis of the device described according to FIG. 4, theindication presenting module is further adapted to present the indicatedIMPUs with the equivalent behavior to the information presenting module.

The information presenting module is adapted to present the associationinformation of the IMPUs with the equivalent behavior to a requestingentity, according to the information of the IMPUs with the equivalentbehavior provided by the indication presenting module. In thisembodiment, the requesting entity is the S-CSCF.

Where, when the information presenting module is implemented in detail,it may be the same as that described from steps 802 to 804 in FIG. 8.

In the following, the system for realizing identity associationaccording to the embodiment will be described in detail.

Please refer to FIG. 11, which is a block diagram of the system forrealizing identity association according to the third embodiment of theinvention. As shown in FIG. 11, the system includes an HSS and a firstrequesting entity.

Where, the HSS is adapted to associate the IMPUs with the equivalentbehavior and to transmit the association information of the IMPUs withthe equivalent behavior to the first requesting entity by carrying theinformation in a message. In this embodiment, the requesting entity isthe S-CSCF.

The first requesting entity is adapted to parse the message from the HSSand to obtain the association information of the IMPUs with theequivalent behavior. In this embodiment, the requesting entity is theS-CSCF.

Where, in a detailed implementation, the HSS may include an indicationpresenting module and an information presenting module.

Where, the indication presenting module is adapted to associate theIMPUs with the equivalent behavior and to provide the information of theindicated IMPUs with the equivalent behavior to the informationpresenting module.

The information presenting module is adapted to transmit the associationinformation of the IMPUs with the equivalent behavior to the firstrequesting entity by carrying the information in a message, according tothe information of the IMPUs with the equivalent behavior provided bythe indication presenting module. In this embodiment, the requestingentity is the S-CSCF.

Where, when the information presenting module is implemented in detail,it may be the same as that described from steps 802 to 804 in FIG. 8.

Furthermore, the HSS may be further adapted to set an equivalentbehavior user identifier and to use the set equivalent behavior useridentifier to associate the IMPUs with the equivalent behavior.Accordingly, the HSS may further include an indication setting module,which is adapted to set the equivalent behavior user identifier. Thusthe indication presenting module is further adapted to associate theIMPUs with the equivalent behavior using the equivalent behavior useridentifier set by the indication setting module. In a detailedimplementation, the indication setting module may be the same as what isdescribed in Embodiment one or two.

Embodiment Four

Method two is used.

Please refer to FIG. 12, which is a flow chart of the method forrealizing user identity association according to the fourth embodimentof the invention. As shown in FIG. 12, the flow includes the followingsteps:

Step 1201: Associating the user identities in the HSS.

The detailed implementation of the step may be the same as thedescription of embodiment one or two. It may also take otherimplementation method as actually required.

Step 1202: HSS adds an attribute indicating the set to which the IMPUbelongs in the Public Identity class of the SP transmitted to theS-CSCF.

In the embodiment, when the HSS extends the XML file related to the SPthat is transmitted to the S-CSCF, the attribute indicating the set towhich the IMPU belongs is added in the Public Identity class of the SP.Please refer to FIG. 13, which is a diagram showing the structure of thePublic Identity class according to the embodiment, where an attributeindicating the set to which the IMPU belongs is added.

In a detailed implementation, if the added attribute indicating the setto which the IMPU belongs is named as Alias Identity Set Num, then adescription relation mapping of the XML file with the attributeindicating the set to which the IMPU belongs added is as shown in Tables3 and 4:

TABLE 3 Data type Tag Base type Comments tPrivateID PrivateID anyURISyntax described in IETF RFC 2486 [14] tSIP_URI Identity anyURI Syntaxdescribed in IETF RFC 3261 [11] tTEL_URL Identity anyURI Syntaxdescribed in IETF RFC 3966 [15] tIdentity Identity union Union oftSIP_URI and tTEL_URL tIdentityType IdentityType enumerated Possiblevalues: 0 (PUBLIC_USER_IDENTITY), representing IMPU 1 (DISTINCT_PSI),representing PSI 2 (WILDCARDED_PSI), representing wildcarded PSItAliasIdentitySetNum AliasIdentitySetNum integer >=0 tWildcardedPSIWildcardedPSI anyURI Syntax described in 3GPP TS 23.003 [17].tServiceInfo ServiceInfo string . . . . . . . . . . . . tDisplayNameDisplayName string

In Table 3, the attribute indicating the set to which the IMPU belongsis named as Alias Identity Set Num and the Alias Identity Set Num is aninteger type. The Alias Identity Set Num may also be other data typesuch as string. The Alias Identity Set Num is obtained by extending anextension field, which is shown in Table 4:

TABLE 4 Compound of Data type Tag Tag Type Cardinality tIMSSubscriptionIMSSubscription PrivateID tPrivateID 1 ServiceProfile tServiceProfile (1to n) tServiceProfile ServiceProfile PublicIdentity tPublicIdentity (0to n InitialFilterCriteria tInitialFilterCriteria (0 to nCoreNetworkServicesAuthorization CoreNetworkServicesAuthorization (0to 1) Extension tServiceProfileExtension (0 to 1) . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . tPublicIdentityExtension Extension IdentityType tIdentityType (0to 1) WildcardedPSI tWildcardedPSI (0 to 1) ExtensiontPublicIdentityExtension2 (0 to 1) tPublicIdentityExtension2 ExtensionDisplayName tDisplayName (0 to 1) AliasIdentitySetNumtAliasIdentitySetNum (0 to 1)

It can be seen from Table 4 that the Alias Identity Set Num is obtainedin an extension field of tPublicIdentityExtension2 of the PublicIdentity. An instance of the Public Identity includes at most one AliasIdentity Set Num. When the IMPU in the Public Identity does not have anyIMPU with the equivalent behavior, there is no need to add the AliasIdentity Set Num in the Public Identity.

Step 1203: Assigning values for the added attribute, which indicates theset of IMPUs with the equivalent behavior to which each IMPU belongs.

If there are two set of IMPUs with the equivalent behavior and the twosets of IMPUs with the equivalent behavior are marked by 1 and 2respectively, then the Alias Identity Set Num of the IMPUs in the twosets may be assigned with the value 1 and 2 respectively, which are usedto indicate the set of IMPUs with the equivalent behavior to which theIMPU belongs.

Step 1204: HSS presents the association information of the IMPUs withthe equivalent behavior to the S-CSCF by the SP carrying the aboveindication.

In this step, the HSS transmits the XML carrying the SP that indicatesthe set of IMPUs with the equivalent behavior to which the IMPU belongsto the S-CSCF, and the S-CSCF parses the association information of theIMPUs with the equivalent behavior according to the received XML file.

An example is that IMPU1 and IMPU2 have the equivalent behavior andIMPU3 and IMPU4 have the equivalent behavior. The case there is anIRPUIS and the set of IMPUs with the equivalent behavior is the subsetof the IRPUIS is taken as the example. If IMPU1, IMPU2, IMPU3 and IMPU4are in the same IRPUIS, when the S-CSCF requests the user data of IMPU1from the HSS through the SAR, the content of the XML file carried in theSAA is as follows:

<?xml version=“1.0” encoding=“UTF-8”?> <IMSSubscriptionxmlns:xsi=“http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance”xsi:noNamespaceSchemaLocation=“D:\\CxDataType.xsd”> <PrivateID>IMPI1@homedomain.com</PrivateID>  <ServiceProfile>  <PublicIdentity>   ; public identity begins   <AliasIdentitySetNum>1</AliasIdentitySetNum> ; value of AliasIdentity Set Num  is 1    <Identity> sip:IMPU1@homedomain.com</Identity>   </PublicIdentity>   ; public identity ends  <PublicIdentity>    ; public identity begins   <AliasIdentitySetNum>1</AliasIdentitySetNum> ;value of Alias IdentitySet Num is 1    <Identity> sip:IMPU2@homedomain.com </Identity>  </PublicIdentity>   ; public identity ends   <PublicIdentity>    ;public identity begins    <AliasIdentitySetNum>2</AliasIdentitySetNum>;value of Alias Identity Set Num is 2    <Identity>sip:IMPU3@homedomain.com </Identity>   </PublicIdentity>   ; publicidentity ends   <PublicIdentity>    ; public identity begins   <AliasIdentitySetNum>2</AliasIdentitySetNum> ;value of Alias IdentitySet Num  is 2    <Identity> sip:IMPU4@homedomain.com </Identity>  </PublicIdentity>   ; public identity ends   <InitialFilterCriteria>   <Priority>0</Priority>    <TriggerPoint>    <ConditionTypeCNF>1</ConditionTypeCNF>     <SPT>     <ConditionNegated>0</ConditionNegated>      <Group>0</Group>     <Method>INVITE</Method>     </SPT>     <SPT>       .       .      .     </SPT>    </TriggerPoint>    <ApplicationServer>    <ServerName>sip:AS1@homedomain.com</ServerName>    <DefaultHandling>0</DefaultHandling>    </ApplicationServer>  </InitialFilterCriteria>  </ServiceProfile> </IMSSubscription>

The set of IMPUs with the equivalent behavior to which the IMPU belongsmay be indicated by assigning values to the Alias Identity Set Num.Based on the above XML file, in the instance of the Public Identityclass of the IMPU1, the Alias Identity Set Num is 1, which shows thatthe IMPU1 belongs to set 1; in the instance of the Public Identity classof the IMPU2, the Alias Identity Set Num is 1, which shows that theIMPU2 belongs to set 1; in the instance of the Public Identity class ofthe IMPU3, the Alias Identity Set Num is 2, which shows that the IMPU2belongs to set 2; in the instance of the Public Identity class of theIMPU4, the Alias Identity Set Num is 2, which shows that the IMPU2belongs to set 2.

When the S-CSCF receives the above XML file, it parses the associationinformation of the IMPUs with the equivalent behavior, that is, IMPU1and IMPU2 have the equivalent behavior and IMPU3 and IMPU4 have theequivalent behavior, according to the indication of the Alias IdentitySet Num.

The method for realizing identity association according to theembodiment is described in detail above.

The structure, connection relationship and function of the deviceaccording to the embodiment are the same as the device of Embodimentthree except that a detailed implementation of the informationpresenting module in the device according to the embodiment may be thesame as that described from steps 1202 to 1204 in FIG. 12.

Furthermore, the structure, connection relationship and function of thesystem according to the embodiment are the same as the system ofEmbodiment three except that a detailed implementation of theInformation Presenting Module of the HSS in the embodiment may be thesame as that described from steps 1202 to 1204 in FIG. 12.

Embodiment Five

Method three is used.

Please refer to FIG. 14, which is a flow chart of the method forrealizing user identity association according to the fifth embodiment ofthe invention. As shown in FIG. 14, the flow includes the followingsteps:

Step 1401: Associating the user identities in the HSS.

The detailed implementation of the step may be the same as thedescription of embodiment one or two. It may also take otherimplementation method as actually required.

Step 1402: HSS adds a class indicating members of the set to which theIMPU belongs in the Public Identity class in the SP transmitted to theS-CSCF.

In this embodiment, when the HSS extends the XML file related to the SPtransmitted to the S-CSCF, it may indicate the members of the set towhich the IMPU belongs by adding a new class in the Public Identityclass in the SP. Please refer to FIG. 15, which is a schematic diagramof the structure of the Public Identity class according to theembodiment, in which a class indicating the members of the set to whichthe IMPU belongs is added.

In a detailed implementation, if the added class indicating the membersof the set to which the IMPU belongs is named Alias Identity, then adescription relation mapping of the XML file with the class thatindicates the members of the set to which the IMPU belongs is as shownin Table 5:

TABLE 5 Compound of Data type Tag Tag Type Cardinality tIMSSubscriptionIMSSubscription PrivateID tPrivateID 1 ServiceProfile tServiceProfile (1to n) tServiceProfile ServiceProfile PublicIdentity tPublicIdentity (1to n) InitialFilterCriteria tInitialFilterCriteria (0 to n)CoreNetworkServicesAuthorization CoreNetworkServicesAuthorization (0to 1) Extension tServiceProfileExtension (0 to 1) . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . tPublicIdentityExtension Extension IdentityType tIdentityType (0to 1) WildcardedPSI tWildcardedPSI (0 to 1) ExtensiontPublicIdentityExtension2 (0 to 1) tPublicIdentityExtension2 ExtensionDisplayName tDisplayName (0 to 1) AliasIdentity tAliasIdentity (0 to n)tAliasIdentity Aliasldentity Identity tIdentity (1)

In Table 5, the class indicating the members of the set is named AliasIdentity, which is obtained in an extension field oftPublicIdentityExtension2 in the Public Identity. When there is no IMPUhaving the equivalent behavior to the identity in the Public Identity,the number of instance of the Alias Identity class is 0. When there ismore than one IMPU having the equivalent behavior to the identity in thePublic Identity, the number of instance of the Alias Identity class ismore than one. One Alias Identity class includes an Identity attribute,which is similar to Identity in the Public Identity class shown in FIG.7. Also the Identity in the Alias Identity class may be in the form ofSIP URI or TEL URI; where, an Identity corresponds to an IMPU with theequivalent behavior.

Step 1403: The information of the IMPUs with the equivalent behavior toeach IMPU is indicated in the added class.

Assuming that IMPU1 and IMPU2 are IMPUs having the equivalent behavior,then the information of IMPU2 is indicated in the Alias Identityattribute of IMPU1, and the information of IMPU1 is indicated in theAlias Identity attribute of IMPU2. Similarly, if IMPU1 IMPU2 and IMPU3are IMPUs having the equivalent behavior, then the information of IMPU2and IMPU3 is indicated in the Alias Identity attribute of IMPU1, theinformation of IMPU1 and IMPU3 is indicated in the Alias Identityattribute of IMPU2, and the information of IMPU1 and IMPU2 is indicatedin the Alias Identity attribute of IMPU3.

Steps 1404: HSS presents the association information of the IMPUs withthe equivalent behavior to the S-CSCF by the SP carrying the aboveindication.

In this step, the HSS transmits the XML carrying the SP that indicatesthe IMPUs having the equivalent behavior to each IMPU to the S-CSCF, andthe S-CSCF parses the association information of the IMPUs with theequivalent behavior according to the received XML file.

An example is that IMPU1 and IMPU2 have the equivalent behavior andIMPU3 and IMPU4 have the equivalent behavior. The case of there is anIRPUIS and the set of IMPUs with the equivalent behavior is the subsetof the IRPUIS is taken as the example. If IMPU1, IMPU2, IMPU3 and IMPU4are in the same IRPUIS, when the S-CSCF requests the user data of IMPU1from the HSS through the SAR, the content of the XML file carried in theSAA is as follows:

<?xml version=“1.0” encoding=“UTF-8”?> <IMSSubscriptionxmlns:xsi=“http://www.w3.org/2001/ XMLSchema-instance”xsi:noNamespaceSchemaLocation=“D:\\CxDataType.xsd”> <PrivateID>IMPI1@homedomain.com</PrivateID>  <ServiceProfile>  <PublicIdentity>        ; Public Identity begins   <AliasIdentity>     ; Alias Identity begins     <Identity>sip:IMPU2@homedomain.com </Identity>    </AliasIdentity>    ; AliasIdentity ends    <Identity> sip:IMPU1@homedomain.com </Identity>  </PublicIdentity>    ; Public Identity ends  <PublicIdentity>         ; Public Identity begins   <AliasIdentity>     ; Alias Identity begins     <Identity>sip:IMPU1@homedomain.com </Identity>    </AliasIdentity>      ; AliasIdentity ends    <Identity> sip:IMPU2@homedomain.com </Identity>  </PublicIdentity>    ; Public Identity ends  <PublicIdentity>        ; Public Identity begins   <AliasIdentity>      ; Alias Identity begins    <Identity>sip:IMPU4@homedomain.com </Identity>    </AliasIdentity>     ; AliasIdentity ends    <Identity> sip:IMPU3@homedomain.com </Identity>  </PublicIdentity>     ; Public Identity ends  <PublicIdentity>         ; Public Identity begins   <AliasIdentity>      ; Alias Identity begins    <Identity>sip:IMPU3@homedomain.com </Identity>    </AliasIdentity>      ; AliasIdentity ends    <Identity> sip:IMPU4@homedomain.com </Identity>  </PublicIdentity>      ; Public Identity ends  <InitialFilterCriteria>    <Priority>0</Priority>    <TriggerPoint>    <ConditionTypeCNF>1</ConditionTypeCNF>     <SPT>     <ConditionNegated>0</ConditionNegated>      <Group>0</Group>     <Method>INVITE</Method>     </SPT>     <SPT>       .       .    </SPT>    </TriggerPoint>    <ApplicationServer>    <ServerName>sip:AS1@homedomain.com</ServerName>    <DefaultHandling>0</DefaultHandling>    </ApplicationServer>  </InitialFilterCriteria>  </ServiceProfile> </IMSSubscription>

In the above XML file, the Alias Identity in the instance of the PublicIdentity class of IMPU1 carries the information of IMPU2 and the AliasIdentity in the instance of the Public Identity class of IMPU2 carriesthe information of IMPU1. Similarly, the Alias Identity in the instanceof the Public Identity class of IMPU3 carries the information of IMPU4and the Alias Identity in the instance of the Public Identity class ofIMPU4 carries the information of IMPU3.

When the S-CSCF receives the above XML file, it parses out theassociation information of the IMPUs with the equivalent behavior, thatis, IMPU1 and IMPU2 have the equivalent behavior and IMPU3 and IMPU4have the equivalent behavior, according to the indication of the AliasIdentity.

The method for realizing identity association according to theembodiment is described in detail above.

The structure, connection relationship and function of the deviceaccording to the embodiment are the same as the device of Embodimentthree except that a detailed implementation of the informationpresenting module in the device according to the embodiment may be thesame as that described from steps 1402 to 1404 in FIG. 14.

Furthermore, the structure, connection relationship and function of thesystem according to the embodiment are the same as the system ofEmbodiment three except that a detailed implementation of theInformation Presenting Module of the HSS in the embodiment may be thesame as that described from steps 1402 to 1404 in FIG. 14.

Embodiment Six

Method four is used.

This embodiment is more suitable for the case of having only one set ofIMPUs with the equivalent behavior. Please refer to FIG. 16, which is aflow chart of the method for realizing user identity associationaccording to the sixth embodiment of the invention. As shown in FIG. 16,the flow includes the following steps:

Step 1601: Associating the user identities in the HSS.

The detailed implementation of the step may be the same as thedescription of embodiment one or two. It may also take otherimplementation method as actually required.

Step 1602: HSS extends the value field of IdentityType in the PublicIdentity class in the SP transmitted to the S-CSCF.

In this step, the value field of IdentityType is extended and anenumerated type is added. The original IdentityType is enumerated typeand has the values of 0, 1 and 2. Here, 0 represents IMPU, 1 representsPSI and 2 represents wildcarded PSI. Thus, in the embodiment, anenumerated value 3 representing the IMPUs with the equivalent behavioris added based on the original IdentityType.

In a specific implementation, if the extended IdentityType is namedAlias_Public_User_Identity, then a description relation mapping of theXML file with the extended IdentityType is as shown in Table 6:

TABLE 6 Data type Tag Base type Comments tPrivateID PrivateID anyURISyntax described in IETF RFC 2486 [14] tSIP_URI Identity anyURI Syntaxdescribed in IETF RFC 3261 [11] tTEL_URL Identity anyURI Syntaxdescribed in IETF RFC 3966 [15] tIdentity Identity union Union oftSIP_URI and tTEL_URL tIdentityType IdentityType enumerated Possiblevalues: 0 (PUBLIC_USER_IDENTITY), represent IMPU 1 (DISTINCT_PSI),reprents PSI 2 (WILDCARDED_PSI) represents wildcarded PSI 3(ALIAS_PUBLIC_USER_IDENTITY), represents ALIAS_PUBLIC_USER_IDENTITYtWildcardedPSI WildcardedPSI anyURI Syntax described in 3GPP TS 23.003[17]. tServiceInfo ServiceInfo string . . . . . . . . . . . .tDisplayName DisplayName string

Step 1603: The identity type of the IMPUs with the equivalent behavioris indicated with the value of the extended IdentityType.

If the IMPU belongs to a set of IMPUs with the equivalent behavior, thevalue of 3 of the extended IdentityType may be used to indicate that theidentity type of the IMPU is an IMPU with the equivalent behavior, thatis, the named ALIAS_PUBLIC_USER_IDENTITY in the Table 6.

Step 1604: HSS presents the association information of the IMPUs withthe equivalent behavior to the S-CSCF by the SP carrying the aboveIdentityType indication.

In this step, the HSS transmits the XML carrying the SP that indicatesthe set of IMPUs with the equivalent behavior to which the IMPU belongsto the S-CSCF, and the S-CSCF parses the association information of theIMPUs with the equivalent behavior according to the received XML file.

An example is that IMPU1 and IMPU2 have the equivalent behavior andthere is an IRPUIS and the set of IMPUs with the equivalent behavior isthe subset of the IRPUIS. If IMPU1, IMPU2, IMPU3 and IMPU4 are in thesame IRPUIS, when the S-CSCF requests the user data of IMPU1 from theHSS through the SAR, the content of the XML file carried in the SAA isas follows:

<?xml version=“1.0” encoding=“UTF-8”?> <IMSSubscriptionxmlns:xsi=“http://www.w3.org/2001/ XMLSchema-instance”xsi:noNamespaceSchemaLocation=“D:\\CxDataType.xsd”> <PrivateID>IMPI1@homedomain.com</PrivateID>  <ServiceProfile>  <PublicIdentity>    ; Public Identity begins   <IdentityType>3</IdentityType> ; value of IdentityType is 3   <Identity> sip:IMPU1@homedomain.com </Identity>  </PublicIdentity>     ; Public Identity ends   <PublicIdentity>      ;Public Identity begins    <IdentityType>3</IdentityType> ; value ofIdentityType is 3    <Identity> sip:IMPU2@homedomain.com </Identity>  </PublicIdentity>    ; Public Identity ends   <PublicIdentity>     ;Public Identity begins    <Identity> sip:IMPU3@homedomain.com</Identity>   </PublicIdentity>    ; Public Identity ends  <PublicIdentity>     ; Public Identity begins    <Identity>sip:IMPU4@homedomain.com </Identity>   </PublicIdentity>     ; PublicIdentity ends   <InitialFilterCriteria>    <Priority>0</Priority>   <TriggerPoint>     <ConditionTypeCNF>1</ConditionTypeCNF>     <SPT>     <ConditionNegated>0</ConditionNegated>      <Group>0</Group>     <Method>INVITE</Method>     </SPT>     <SPT>       .       .    </SPT>    </TriggerPoint>    <ApplicationServer>    <ServerName>sip:AS1@homedomain.com</ServerName>    <DefaultHandling>0</DefaultHandling>    </ApplicationServer>  </InitialFilterCriteria>  </ServiceProfile> </IMSSubscription>

The IMPUs with the equivalent behavior are indicated by setting the typeof the IMPUs with the equivalent behavior to the extended IdentityTypevalue. In the above XML file, in the instance of the Public Identityclass of the IMPU1, the value of IdentityType is 3; in the instance ofthe Public Identity class of the IMPU2, the value of IdentityType is 3,which shows that IMPU1 and IMPU2 have the equivalent behavior.

When the S-CSCF receives the above XML file, it parses the associationinformation of the IMPUs with the equivalent behavior, that is, IMPU1and IMPU2 have the equivalent behavior, according to the indication ofthe value of IdentityType.

The method for realizing identity association according to theembodiment is described in detail above.

The structure, connection relationship and function of the deviceaccording to the embodiment are the same as the device of Embodimentthree except that a detailed implementation of the informationpresenting module in the device according to the embodiment may be thesame as that described from steps 1602 to 1604 in FIG. 16.

Furthermore, the structure, connection relationship and function of thesystem according to the embodiment are the same as the system ofEmbodiment three except that a detailed implementation of theInformation Presenting Module of the HSS in the embodiment may be thesame as that described from steps 1602 to 1604 in FIG. 16.

Embodiment Seven

Method five is used.

This embodiment is more suitable for the case of having only one set ofIMPUs with the equivalent behavior among the IMPUs having the same SP.Please refer to FIG. 17, which is a flow chart of the method forrealizing user identity association according to the seventh embodimentof the invention. As shown in FIG. 17, the flow includes the followingsteps:

Step 1701: Associating the user identities in the HSS.

The detailed implementation of the step may be the same as thedescription of Embodiment one or two. It may also take otherimplementation method as actually required.

Step 1702: HSS extends the Public Identity class in the SP transmittedto the S-CSCF.

In this step, the Public Identity class is extended and an attributeindicating whether the IMPU is an IMPU with the equivalent behavior isadded. The attribute is a Boolean type.

When the value of the attribute is true or larger than zero, it showsthat the IMPU has the equivalent behavior to other IMPUs whose attributevalue is also true or larger than zero.

When the value of the attribute is false or equal to zero, it shows thatthe IMPU does not have the same behavior to any other IMPU.

In this embodiment, when the HSS extends the XML file related to the SPtransmitted to the S-CSCF, it may add the attribute indicating whetherthe IMPU is an IMPU with the equivalent behavior in the Public Identityclass in the SP. Please refer to FIG. 18, which is a schematic diagramof the structure of the Public Identity class according to theembodiment, in which an attribute indicating whether the IMPU is an IMPUwith the equivalent behavior is added.

In a detailed implementation, if the extended attribute is namedAliasIndicator, then a description relation mapping of the XML file withthe extended Public Identity class is as shown in Tables 7 and 8:

TABLE 7 Data type Tag Base type Comments tPrivateID PrivateID anyURISyntax described in IETF RFC 2486 [14] tSIP_URI Identity anyURI Syntaxdescribed in IETF RFC 3261 [11] tTEL_URL Identity anyURI Syntaxdescribed in IETF RFC 3966 [15] tIdentity Identity union Union oftSIP_URI and tTEL_URL tIdentityType IdentityType enumerated Possiblevalues: 0 (PUBLIC_USER_IDENTITY), represents IMPU 1 (DISTINCT_PSI),represents PSI 2 (WILDCARDED_PSI), represents wildcarded PSItWildcardedPSI WildcardedPSI anyURI Syntax described in 3GPP TS 23.003[17]. tServiceInfo ServiceInfo string . . . . . . . . . tBoolConditionTypeCNF, Boolean Possible values: ConditionNegated, 0 (false)BarringIndication 1 (rue) AliasIndicator . . . . . . . . . . . .

In Table 7, the attribute indicating whether the IMPU is an IMPU withthe equivalent behavior is named AliasIndicator and is added to a Tagcorresponding to the data type tBool.

The attribute indicating whether the IMPU is an IMPU with the equivalentbehavior is named AliasIndicator and the type of which is defined asBoolean type. The Alias Identity Set Number is obtained by extending anextension field as shown in Table 8:

TABLE 8 Compound of Data type Tag Tag Type Cardinality tIMSSubscriptionIMSSubscription PrivateID tPrivateID 1 ServiceProfile tServiceProfile (1to n) tServiceProfile ServiceProfile PublicIdentity tPublicIdentity (1to n InitialFilterCriteria tInitialFilterCriteria (0 to nCoreNetworkServicesAuthorization CoreNetworkServicesAuthorization (0to 1) Extension tServiceProfileExtension (0 to 1) . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . tPublicIdentityExtension Extension IdentityType tIdentityType (0to 1) WildcardedPSI tWildcardedPSI (0 to 1) ExtensiontPublicIdentityExtension2 (0 to 1) tPublicIdentityExtension2 ExtensionDisplayName tDisplayName (0 to 1) AliasIndicator tBool (0 to 1)

It can be seen from Table 8 that the AliasIndicator is obtained in anextension field of tPublicIdentityExtension2 in the Public Identity. Aninstance of the Public Identity class includes at most oneAliasIndicator. When there is no IMPU having the equivalent behavior tothe IMPU in the Public Identity, there is no need to add theAliasIndicator to the Public Identity.

Step 1703: Assigning a value for the added attribute, which indicateswhether each IMPU has the equivalent behavior to other IMPUs.

Step 1704: HSS presents the association information of the IMPUs withthe equivalent behavior to the S-CSCF by the SP carrying the aboveindication.

In this step, the HSS transmits the XML carrying the SP that indicateswhether each IMPU is an IMPU having the equivalent behavior to theS-CSCF, and the S-CSCF parses the association information of the IMPUswith the equivalent behavior according to the received XML file.

An example is that IMPU1 and IMPU2 have the equivalent behavior andthere is an IRPUIS and the set of IMPUs with the equivalent behavior isthe subset of the IRPUIS. If IMPU1, IMPU2 and IMPU3 are in the sameIRPUIS and have the same SP, when the S-CSCF requests the user data ofIMPU1 from the HSS through the SAR, the content of the XML file carriedin the SAA is as follows:

<?xml version=“1.0” encoding=“UTF-8”?> <IMSSubscriptionxmlns:xsi=“http://www.w3.org/2001/ XMLSchema-instance”xsi:noNamespaceSchemaLocation=“D:\\CxDataType.xsd”> <PrivateID>IMPI1@homedomain.com</PrivateID>  <ServiceProfile>  <PublicIdentity>      ; Public Identity begins   <AliasIndicator>1</AliasIndicator> ; value of AliasIndicator is 1   or true    <Identity> sip:IMPU1@homedomain.com </Identity>  </PublicIdentity>     ; Public Identity ends   <PublicIdentity>    ;Public Identity begins    <AliasIndicator>1</AliasIndicator> value ofAliasIndicator is 1    or true    <Identity> sip:IMPU2@homedomain.com</Identity>   </PublicIdentity>   ; Public Identity ends<PublicIdentity>    ; Public Identity begins  <Identity>sip:IMPU3@homedomain.com </Identity>   </PublicIdentity>    ; PublicIdentity ends   <InitialFilterCriteria>    <Priority>0</Priority>   <TriggerPoint>     <ConditionTypeCNF>1</ConditionTypeCNF>     <SPT>     <ConditionNegated>0</ConditionNegated>      <Group>0</Group>     <Method>INVITE</Method>     </SPT>     <SPT>       .       .      .     </SPT>    </TriggerPoint>    <ApplicationServer>    <ServerName>sip:AS1@homedomain.com</ServerName>    <DefaultHandling>0</DefaultHandling>    </ApplicationServer>  </InitialFilterCriteria>  </ServiceProfile> </IMSSubscription>

Whether the IMPU has the equivalent behavior to the other IMPUs isindicated by assigning a value for the AliasIndicator. In the above XMLfile, in the instance of the Public Identity class of the IMPU1, thevalue of AliasIndicator is 1, which shows that IMPU1 is an IMPU havingthe equivalent behavior; in the instance of the Public Identity class ofthe IMPU2, the value of AliasIndicator is 1, which shows that IMPU2 isan IMPU having the equivalent behavior; in the instance of the PublicIdentity class of the IMPU3, there is no AliasIndicator, which showsthat IMPU3 is not an IMPU having the equivalent behavior.

When the S-CSCF receives the above XML file, it parses out theassociation information of the IMPUs with the equivalent behavior, thatis, IMPU1 and IMPU2 have the equivalent behavior and IMPU3 does not havethe equivalent behavior to the other IMPUs, according to the indicationof the AliasIndicator.

The method for realizing identity association according to theembodiment is described in detail above.

The structure, connection relationship and function of the deviceaccording to the embodiment are the same as the device of Embodimentthree except that a detailed implementation of the informationpresenting module in the device according to the embodiment may be thesame as that described from steps 1702 to 1704 in FIG. 17.

Furthermore, the structure, connection relationship and function of thesystem according to the embodiment are the same as the system ofEmbodiment three except that a detailed implementation of theInformation Presenting Module of the HSS in the embodiment may be thesame as that described from steps 1702 to 1704 in FIG. 17. The procedureof presenting the association information of the IMPUs with theequivalent behavior to the S-CSCF by the HSS is described in detail withthe above description of Embodiments three to seven.

Furthermore, the S-CSCF may present the association information of theIMPUs obtained from the HSS to the UE, P-CSCF and AS.

In the prior art, the UE may obtain the information of the non-barredIMPUs which belong to the same IRPUIS as the registered IMPU throughregistration, and then obtain the registration state of all thenon-barred IMPUs related to the user by subscribing an event packet fromthe S-CSCF.

When the UE is registered, after downloading the user data from the HSSusing the SAR message, the S-CSCF can get to know the information of theIMPUs with the equivalent behavior to the registered user. Since theuser will subscribe to notification of an reg-event event afterreceiving a response 200 OK to the registration request, thus, in orderto make it possible for the S-CSCF to present the associationinformation of the IMPUs to the UE, the subscribed event packet may beextended and the information is transmitted to the UE by adding theinformation to the Notify message of reg-event. Here, the messageinteraction between the S-CSCF and UE is done through the interface Gm.In the following, the method will be described in detail with referenceto the embodiments.

Embodiment Eight

Please refer to FIG. 19, which is a flow chart of the method forrealizing user identity association according to the eighth embodimentof the invention. As shown in FIG. 19, the flow includes the followingsteps:

Step 1901: Associating the user identities in the HSS.

The detailed implementation of the step may be the same as thedescription of embodiment one or two. It may also take otherimplementation method as actually required.

Step 1902: HSS presents the association information of the IMPUs withthe equivalent behavior to the S-CSCF.

In this step, the HSS may present the association information of theIMPUs with the equivalent behavior to the S-CSCF when the S-CSCFtransmits the SAR message and requests to download the user data whenthe UE is registered.

Here, the detailed implementation of presenting the associationinformation of the IMPUs with the equivalent behavior to the S-CSCF bythe HSS may be the same as the description of any of Embodiments threeto seven.

Step 1903: UE sends a subscription to notification of an Event to theS-CSCF.

In this step, the UE may send subscription to notification of areg-event to the S-CSCF.

Step 1904: S-CSCF extends the subscribed event packet and carries theassociation information of the IMPUs with the equivalent behavior in thesubscribed event packet and presents it to the UE.

In this step, the S-CSCF extends the subscribed reg-event packet. Forexample, one or more information elements (IEs) may be added to aregistration IE in the XML file for transmission, and the IEs mayinclude the IMPUs with the equivalent behavior to each IMPU. Forexample, the IE may be named as Alias Identity.

Taking FIG. 2 as an example, if IMPU3 and IMPU4 of FIG. 2 are the IMPUswith the equivalent behavior of the invention, when IMPU3 and IMPU4subscribes to notification of the reg-event during the registrationprocedure, the S-CSCF will transmit a Notify message to the UE, and themessage carries the association information of each IMPU. Please see thefollowing:

NOTIFY sip:[5555::aaa:bbb:ccc:ddd]:1357;comp=sigcomp SIP/2.0 Via:SIP/2.0/UDP scscf.homedomain.com;branch=z9hG4bK332b23.1 Max-Forwards: 70Route: <sip:pcscf. homedomain.com;lr> From: <sip:IMPU3@homedomain.com>;tag=31415 To: <sip:IMPU4@homedomain.com>;tag=151170 Call-ID: CSeq: 42 NOTIFYSubscription-State: active;expires=600000 Event: reg Content-Type:application/reginfo+xml Contact: <sip:scscf.homedomain.com>Content-Length: (...) <?xml version=“1.0”?> <reginfoxmlns=“urn:ietf:params:xml:ns:reginfo”   version=“1” state=“full”> <registration aor=“sip: IMPU3@homedomain.com” id=“a7” state=“active”> ;registration begins  <contact id=“76” state=“active” event=“registered”>  <uri>sip:[5555::aaa:bbb:ccc:ddd]</uri>  </contact>    <AliasIdentity>        ; Alias Identity beings   <uri>sip:IMPU4@homedomain.com</uri>     </AliasIdentity>        ; Alias Identityends  </registration>        ; registration ends  <registrationaor=“sip: IMPU4@homedomain.com” id=“a8” state=“active”> ; registrationbegins  <contact id=“77” state=“active” event=“registered”>  <uri>sip:[5555::aaa:bbb:ccc:ddd]</uri>  </contact>    <AliasIdentity>         ; Alias Identity beings   <uri>sip:IMPU3@homedomain.com</uri>     </AliasIdentity>        ; Alias Identityends  </registration>        ; registration ends   <registrationaor=“sip: IMPU1@homedomain.com” id=“a9” state=“active”>  <contactid=“77” state=“active” event=“created”>  <uri>sip:[5555::aaa:bbb:ccc:ddd]</uri>  </contact>  </registration>  .   .   . </reginfo>

In the Notify message, it can be seen that in the registration IE ofIMPU3 the AliasIdentity IE carrying IMPU4 is added, and in theregistration IE of IMPU4 the AliasIdentity IE carrying IMPU3 is added.

Upon receiving the Notify message, the UE may obtain the associationinformation of IMPU3 and IMPU4 having the equivalent behavior from themessage.

The method for realizing identity association according to an embodimentof the invention is described in detail in the above.

The device for realizing identity association according to the inventionmay be the same as the description of any of the devices of Embodimentthree to seven.

The system for realizing identity association according to the inventionwill be described in detail in the following.

Please refer to FIG. 20, which is a block diagram of the system forrealizing identity association according to the eighth embodiment of theinvention. As shown in FIG. 20, on the basis of any of the system ofEmbodiment three to seven, the system for realizing identity associationaccording to the embodiment further includes a second requesting entity.In the embodiment, the second requesting entity is a UE.

Where, the S-CSCF is further adapted to receiving a subscription eventnotification from the second requesting entity, and to present theassociation information of the IMPUs with the equivalent behavior to thesecond requesting entity by carrying the association information in thesubscribed event packet, according to the received subscription eventnotification. In the embodiment, the second requesting entity is a UE.

The second requesting entity is adapted to transmit the subscriptionevent notification to the S-CSCF, to receive the event packet from theS-CSCF, and to parse the association information of the IMPUs with theequivalent behavior from the received event packet. In the embodiment,the second requesting entity is a UE.

Furthermore, if the AS also subscribes to the reg-event eventnotification through a third party subscription when the user isregistered, the S-CSCF may also present the association information ofthe IMPUs with the equivalent behavior obtained through the SAA or PPRto the AS by adding the association information to the Notify message ofreg-event. Here, the information interaction between the AS and S-CSCFis done through the interface ISC.

Similarly, the P-CSCF may also subscribe to the reg-event eventnotification from the S-CSCF when the user is registered, the S-CSCF mayalso present the association information of the IMPUs with theequivalent behavior obtained through the SAA or PPR to the P-CSCF byadding the association information to the Notify message of reg-event.Here, the information interaction between the P-CSCF and S-CSCF is donethrough the interface Mw.

Here, the methods of presenting the association information of the IMPUswith the equivalent behavior to the requesting entities UE, and/or AS,and/or P-CSCF by S-CSCF may be the same, that is to say, the detailedimplementation may be the same as the description of Embodiment eight.The difference just lies in that the association information of theIMPUs with the equivalent behavior is presented to different requestingentities according to the different requesting entities.

Accordingly, in the system, the second requesting entity is the AS orP-CSCF. The procedures will not be elaborated here since they aresimilar to each other.

Furthermore, in the prior art, the information interaction between theAS and HSS may be done through the interface Sh etc. The AS may indicaterequesting information of the public identity of the user by setting thevalue of Data-Reference AVP to IMSPublicIdentity (10) in theUser-Data-Request (UDR) message. The HSS then returns the correspondingpublic identity to the AS in the User-Data-Answer (UDA), according tothe type of the public identity indicated in Identity-Set AVP in themessage.

Furthermore, the AS may also subscribe to the public identityinformation by setting the value of Data-Reference AVP asIMSPublicIdentity (10) in the Subscribe-Notification-Request (SNR)message. When the public identity changes, the HSS transmits the relateddata to the AS through the Push-Notification-Request (PNR) message,according to the public identity type indicated in the Identity-Set AVP.Alternatively, the requested public identity is first transmitted to theAS through the Subscribe-Notifications-Answer (SNA) message, then therelated data is transmitted to the AS through the PNR message when thepublic identity changes.

Base on the above procedure, it can be seen that the HS returns thecorresponding public identity information to the AS according to thetype of the public identity indicated in the Identity-Set AVP in therequest message, when the AS requests the public identity informationfrom the HSS.

Here, Identity-Set may take four values: ALL_IDENTITIES (0),REGISTERED_DENTITIES (1), IMPLICIT_IDENTITIES (2) or ALIAS_IDENTITIES(3).

When the value is ALL_IDENTITIES, the HSS returns non-barred IMPUscorresponding to all the IMPIs associated with the IMPU in the requestmessage to the AS. When the value is REGISTERED_DENTITIES, the HSSreturns non-barred registered IMPUs corresponding to all the IMPIsassociated with the IMPU in the request message to the AS. When thevalue is IMPLICIT_IDENTITIES, the HSS returns non-barred IMPUs belongingto the same IRPUIS as the IMPU in the request message to the AS. Whenthe value is ALIAS_IDENTITIES, the HSS returns non-barred IMPUs havingthe same SP in the IRPUIS of the IMPU in the request message to the AS.

In the embodiment of the invention, in order to make it possible for theHSS to present to the AS the association information of the IMPUs withthe equivalent behavior, the AS may transmit to the HSS a request forthe IMPUs with the equivalent behavior, then the HSS presents to the ASthe non-barred IMPUs with the equivalent behavior as the IMPU in therequest message, according to the request. To this end, the values ofIdentity-Set may be extended, the detailed procedure of which will bedescribed in the following with reference to the embodiment.

Embodiment Nine

Please refer to FIG. 21, which is a flow chart of the method forrealizing user identity association according to the ninth embodiment ofthe invention. As shown in FIG. 21, the flow includes the followingsteps:

Step 2101: Associating the user identities in the HSS.

The detailed implementation of the step may be the same as thedescription of Embodiment one or two. It may also take otherimplementation method as actually required.

Step 2102: Extending the values of Identity-Set and adding a valueindicating the request for information of IMPUs with the equivalentbehavior.

In this step, the values of Identity-Set are extended and a value 4 isadded, and the added value is named ALIAS_GROUP_IDENTITIES, that is,ALIAS_GROUP_IDENTITIES (4), which indicates the request for the IMPUswith the equivalent behavior.

Step 2103: An AS transmits the request for IMPUs with the equivalentbehavior to the HSS.

In this step, the AS may transmit the request for IMPUs information tothe HSS using the UDR or SNR message, and the value Identity-Set is setto ALIAS_GROUP_IDENTITIES (4) in the message. That is, Identity-Set VAPis used to indicate the identity type of the equivalent behavior.

Step 2104: HSS presents the IMPUs with the equivalent behavior to theIMPU in the request message to the AS.

In this step, the HSS presents to the AS the non-barred IMPUs with theequivalent behavior to the IMPU in the request message, or theinformation of the corresponding changed IMPUs, using the UDA message,or SNA message, or PNR message.

In addition to the scenario described in FIG. 21, the scenario of thevalue of Identity-Set being ALIAS_IDENTITIES (3) may be re-defined aswell. That is, ALIAS_IDENTITIES (3) is used to indicate the request forthe IMPUs with the equivalent behavior instead of the request for theIMPUs with the same SP in the IRPUIS. Thus, when the AS value ofIdentity-Set in the request message transmitted from the AS to the HSSis ALIAS_IDENTITIES (3), the HSS may transmit the non-barred IMPUs withthe equivalent behavior to the IMPU in the request message to the AS.

The method for realizing identity association according to theembodiment is described in detail above.

The structure, connection relationship and function of the deviceaccording to the embodiment are the same as the device of Embodimentthree except that the requesting entity in the embodiment is the AS.Meanwhile, a detailed implementation of the information presentingmodule in the device may be the same as that described from steps 2102to 2104 in FIG. 21, or the same as the description of the valueALIAS_IDENTITIES (3) of Identity-Set being redefined.

The structure, connection relationship and function of the systemaccording to the embodiment are the same as the system of Embodimentthree except that the first requesting entity in the embodiment is theAS. Meanwhile, a detailed implementation of the information presentingmodule in the HSS may be the same as that described from steps 2102 to2104 in FIG. 21, or the same as the description of the valueALIAS_IDENTITIES (3) of Identity-Set being redefined.

The detailed implementations described above further describe theobjects, technical solutions and advantages of the invention. It shouldbe understood that what are described above are only preferredembodiments of the invention, and are not intended to limit the scope ofthe disclosure. Any modification, equivalent substitution andimprovement within the spirit and scope of the disclosure are intendedto be included in the scope of the disclosure.

1. A method for realizing user identity association, comprising: settingan equivalent behavior user identifier in a Home Subscription Server(HSS); associating IMS Public User Identities (IMPUs) with theequivalent behavior through the set equivalent behavior user identifier.2. The method of claim 1, wherein the IMPUs with the equivalent behaviorare IMPUs with the same Service Profile (SP) and the same service dataand belong to the same Implicitly Registered Public User Identity Set(IRPUIS).
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the setting the equivalentbehavior user identifier in the HSS comprises: setting in the HSS anindication used for indicating a set of IMPUs with the equivalentbehavior; or setting with an IMPU of the HSS an indication used forindicating a set of IMPUs with the equivalent behavior to which the IMPUbelongs; or setting with an IMPU of the HSS an indication used forindicating that the IMPU belongs to a set of IMPUS with the equivalentbehavior.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the method furthercomprises: presenting, by the HSS, associating information of the IMPUswith the equivalent behavior to a Serving-Call Session Control Function(S-CSCF).
 5. The method of claim 4, wherein the presenting, by the HSS,the associating information to the S-CSCF comprises: adding, by the HSS,a class indicating an alias identity in an SP transmitted to the S-CSCF;indicating, by the added class, the IMPUs with the equivalent behavior;and presenting, by the HSS, the association information to the S-CSCF,by the SP carrying the indication; or: adding, by the HSS, an attributeindicating a set of IMPUs to which the IMPU belongs, to a PublicIdentity class in an SP transmitted to the S-CSCF; indicating set ofIMPUs with the equivalent behavior to which each IMPU belongs byassigning a value to the attribute; and presenting, by the HSS, theassociation information to the S-CSCF, by the SP carrying theindication; or: adding, by the HSS, a class indicating members of a setto which the IMPU belongs to a Public Identity class in an SPtransmitted to the S-CSCF; indicating IMPUs with the equivalent behaviorto each IMPU in the added class; and presenting, by the HSS, theassociation information to the S-CSCF, by the SP carrying theindication; or: extending, by the HSS, a value field of an IdentityTypeattribute of a Public Identity class in an SP transmitted to the S-CSCFand indicating an identity type of the IMPUs with the equivalentbehavior using the value of the extended IdentityType; and presenting,by the HSS, the association information to the S-CSCF, by the SPcarrying the identity type indication; or: adding, by the HSS, anattribute indicating whether the IMPU belongs to a set of IMPUs with theequivalent behavior to a Public Identity class in an SP transmitted tothe S-CSCF; indicating whether the IMPU belongs to the set of IMPUs withthe equivalent behavior by assigning a value to the attribute; andpresenting, by the HSS, the association information to the S-CSCF, bythe SP carrying the indication.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein theattribute used for indicating the set to which the IMPU belongs is anAlias Identity Set Number.
 7. The method of claim 5, wherein the methodfurther comprises: transmitting, by the requesting entity, asubscription to notification of an event to the S-CSCF; and presenting,by the S-CSCF, the association information of the IMPUs with theequivalent behavior to the requesting entity by carrying the associationinformation in the subscribed event packet, according to the subscribednotification of the event.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein the methodfurther comprises: requesting, by the AS, the IMPUs with the equivalentbehavior from the HSS; and presenting, by the HSS, the IMPUs with theequivalent behavior to the AS, according to the request.
 9. The methodof claim 8, wherein the step of requesting, by the AS, the IMPUs withthe equivalent behavior from the HSS comprises: indicating, by the AS,the identity type of the equivalent behavior using an identity setattribute value pair (AVP), carrying the identity set AVP indicating theidentity type of the equivalent behavior in the requesting message andtransmitting the identity set AVP to the HSS; the step of presenting, bythe HSS, the IMPUs with the equivalent behavior to the AS according tothe request comprises: presenting, by the HSS, IMPUs with the equivalentbehavior as the IMPU in the request message to the AS, according to theidentity type of the equivalent behavior as indicated in the requestmessage.
 10. The method of claim 9, wherein when the value of theidentity set AVP is ALIAS_IDENTITIES, the identity set AVP indicates thetype of the IMPUs requesting the equivalent behavior.
 11. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the method further comprises: including the associationinformation of the IMPUs with the equivalent behavior in the serviceinformation of an Initial Filter Criteria (iFC) related to the IMPU inthe HSS.
 12. The method of claim 11, wherein the method furthercomprises: requesting, by the S-CSCF, user data from the HSS, anddownloading the iFC with the service information which comprises theassociation information of the IMPUs with the equivalent behavior fromthe HSS, and presenting the service information including theassociation information of the IMPUs with the equivalent behavior to theAS by carrying the service information in the message, when the iFC ismet.
 13. The method of claim 1, wherein the method further comprises:saving, by the HSS, association information of the IMPUs with theequivalent behavior.
 14. A device for realizing user identityassociation, comprising an indication setting module and an indicationpresenting module, wherein: the indication setting module is adapted toset an equivalent behavior user identifier in an HSS; and the indicationpresenting module is adapted to associate IMPUs with the equivalentbehavior using the equivalent behavior user identifier set by theindication setting module.
 15. The device of claim 14, wherein thedevice further comprises an information presenting module; theindication presenting module provides information of the indicated IMPUswith the equivalent behavior to the information presenting module; andthe information presenting module is adapted to present associationinformation of the IMPUs with the equivalent behavior to a requestingentity, according to the information of the indicated IMPUs with theequivalent behavior provided by the indication presenting module.
 16. Asystem for realizing user identity association comprising a HSS and afirst requesting entity, wherein: the HSS is adapted to associate IMPUswith equivalent behavior and to transmit association information of theIMPUs with the equivalent behavior to the first requesting entity bycarrying the information in a message; and the first requesting entityis adapted to parse the message from the HSS and to obtain theassociation information of the IMPUs with the equivalent behavior fromthe message.
 17. The system of claim 16, wherein the HSS comprises anindication presenting module and an information presenting module,wherein the indication presenting module is adapted to associate theIMPUs with the equivalent behavior and to provide the information of theindicated IMPUs with the equivalent behavior to the informationpresenting module; and the information presenting module is adapted topresent the association information of the IMPUs with the equivalentbehavior to the requesting entity, according to the information of theindicated IMPUs with the equivalent behavior provided by the indicationpresenting module.
 18. The system of claim 16, wherein: the firstrequesting entity is an S-CSCF; the system further comprises a secondrequesting entity; the S-CSCF is further adapted to receive asubscription to notification of an event from the second requestingentity, and to present the association information of the IMPUs with theequivalent behavior to the second requesting entity by carrying theassociation information in the subscribed event packet, according to thesubscription to notification of the event; and the second requestingentity is adapted to transmit the subscription to notification of theevent to the S-CSCF, to receive the event packet from the S-CSCF, and toparse the association information of the IMPUs with the equivalentbehavior from the received event packet.